Activities

Our hands-on workshops include LEGO Mindstorms robot building, coding missions, and STEM challenges.

LEGO Mindstorms Projects and Challenges

1. An Alarm Sensor: This activity teaches LEGO NXT robotics basics, including programming a sound block, using loops, building a door alarm with an ultrasonic sensor, and exploring advanced challenges with switch blocks, distance detection, and screen display using data wires.
2. A Mindstorms 5 Minute-Bot: This activity guides students in building and programming a basic 3-wheeled LEGO NXT robot, exploring movement, turning mechanics, programming with move blocks, and solving navigation challenges like mazes and parking tasks using math and coding logic.
3. Using Touch Sensors: This activity teaches how and why to use LEGO NXT touch sensors to detect contact, control robot behavior, and complete interactive tasks like bump responses, obstacle avoidance, and distance memory challenges using loops, pseudocode, and sensor programming.
4. Using Light Sensors: This activity teaches how to use and calibrate LEGO NXT light and color sensors to detect surface brightness, display sensor readings, and solve navigation challenges like stopping at lines, escaping rings, and counting line crossings.
5. Line Following with Light Sensor: This activity teaches how to program a LEGO robot to follow the edge of a dark line using a calibrated light sensor, including basic and advanced line-following logic, sensor-based decisions, and programming switch and motor blocks in NXT-G.
6. Follow the Line Racetrack Challenge: In this challenge students program LEGO NXT robots to autonomously follow a black-lined racetrack, using light or color sensors, and complete a timed lap while stopping in a gray square. Precision, design, and teamwork are emphasized.
7. The Motorized Claw: This activity teaches students to build a motorized LEGO NXT claw attachment, program it to grasp objects, use rotation sensors for precise control, and create reusable custom code blocks ("My Blocks") to simplify and optimize robotics programming tasks.
8. All About Gears: This activity introduces LEGO Mindstorms gears, explains gear types, gear ratios, direction changes, and power-speed trade-offs, and includes hands-on activities to build gear chains and a speed-boosted “Gear-Bot” using motors and NXT bricks.
9. A Tug-of-War Challenge: In this challenge students build and program LEGO robots for a Tug-of-War challenge, focusing on strength, gear ratios, traction, weight limits, and strategic design to outpull an opponent across a midline after a timed delay.